Stolbtsy

The Stolbtsy region was set up on January 15, 1940 as a part of the Baranovichi oblast. On January 8, 1954 the Stolbtsy region became a part of the Minsk oblast of Belarus.

The total area of the region is 1,882 square kilometers. The population of the Stolbtsy region is 43,676 people (the population of the town of Stolbtsy is 16,014). Some 68.8% of the population is the Belarusians, 23.4% - the Poles, 6% - the Russians.

There are 200 villages in the Stolbtsy region.

The major part of the Stolbtsy region is situated in the Stolbtsy lowland, the north-east part of the region is in the Minsk upland. The major resources of Stolbtsy region include iron ore (the Okolovo deposit), clay, mortar sand.

The biggest river of the Stolbtsy region is the Neman and its tributaries Sula, Yachionka, Olkhovka, Goveznyanka, Zhaterevka, Zaluzhanka, Usa. The Kroman Lake is in the Stolbtsy region.

The town of Stolbtsy is located 80 kilometers away from Minsk on the Brest-Minsk-Moscow highway. The road Ivenets – Nesvizh also runs via Stolbtsy.

The town of Stolbtsy was first mentioned in chronicles in 1511 (according to other sources in 1507). Located in the centre of Europe, the Stolbtsy region belonged to Polish landowners (17-19th centuries). The region survived the wars between Russia and the Rzecz Pospolita (1654 – 1667), the Great Northern War (1700 – 1721), the Patriotic War of 1812.

After signing the Treaty of Riga (1921), the town of Stolbtsy became part of Poland, the centre of the Stolbtsy powiat of the Novogrudok wojewodztwo. The town was a border railway station.
   
In 1939, the town of Stolbtsy became a part of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR). In 1940, the town became the centre of the Stolbtsy region.

The Stolbtsy region is the birthplace of famous Belarusian poet Yakub Kolas (1882). In the middle of the 19th century, Polish and Belarusian poet Wladislaw Syrokomla lived in the manor house of Zaluchie. The life of famous poet and playwright, linguist Karus Kaganets is also connected with the Stolbtsy region.   

The Minsk - Baranovichi railroad, Brest – Minsk – the Russian border highway, Stolbtsy – Kobrin, Pershai – Nesvizh roads run through the territory of the Stolbtsy region.

There are 17 species of architecture, 70 monuments of history and culture in the Stolbtsy region.